Andrea Casarrubios and Ronaldo Rolim

May 16, 2018, 12:15 pm

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Spanish born cellist applauded by the New York Times for having “traversed the palette of emotions” with “gorgeous tone and an edge of-seat intensity” joins us with pianist Ronaldo Rolim live from Preston Bradley Hall at the Chicago Cultural Center. They present works of Vaughan Williams, Schumann, and de Falla.

Winners of numerous competitions around the world, Spanish cellist Andrea Casarrubios and Brazilian pianist Ronaldo Rolim started their collaboration as a duo and as a trio (Trio Appassionata) 10 years ago in the United States. Since then, concert tours have taken them to four continents performing masterpieces of the classical repertoire as well as newer works of the 20th and 21st centuries. Their appearances have been praised by a wide range of audiences, including critics and press from Switzerland, China, Brazil, Spain, London, Italy, Mexico, South Africa, and the United States. Andrea and Ronaldo are dedicated performers as well as committed educators and they are often invited by schools and festivals to teach cello, piano and chamber music masterclasses.

Praised by the New York Times for having “traversed the palette of emotions” with “gorgeous tone and an edge of-seat intensity,” Spanish cellist Andrea Casarrubios has played extensively as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Europe, Asia, Africa and America. She has collaborated in festivals such as the Piatigorsky International Cello Festival, Ravinia RSMI, Pablo Casals Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Festival Mozaic, and the Verbier Festival. Andrea began to play the piano at the age of two, and at the age of five she started to take cello lessons and became a student of Maria de Macedo in Madrid and Lluis Claret in Barcelona. Andrea expanded her undergraduate studies at the Peabody Conservatory with Amit Peled, and in 2013 she completed her Masters at USC under the tutelage of Ralph Kirshbaum. Andrea currently lives in New York City where she works with Ensemble Connect in residence at Carnegie Hall, while pursuing her Doctorate at the same time. A passionate mentor, Andrea has taught at City College Academy for the Arts in Manhattan, Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, and The Juilliard School. Andrea’s latest engagements include tours in South Africa, China and Brazil, and solo and chamber music concerts in Spain, Germany, New York, Vermont, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, and California. First prize winner of numerous competitions and awards, Andrea is also a pianist and a composer herself. She is an Odradek artist, and her solo Debut Album includes her own compositions written in the past four years. The CD will be released in 2019 on Odradek Records.

Described by newspaper El Norte (Mexico) as an artist with “a special capacity of moving an audience through his performances,” Brazilian pianist Ronaldo Rolim has performed extensively as a recitalist, chamber musician and guest soloist in four continents. Ronaldo has performed in some of the world’s most prestigious concert halls, including Carnegie Hall (New York), Wigmore Hall (London), the Great Hall of the Liszt Academy (Budapest) and the National Centre for the Performing Arts (Beijing). He has been a guest soloist of numerous orchestras and has been invited to music festivals such as Folle Journée, Ravinia, Accademia Musicale Chigiana, Académie Musicale de Villecroze and Lake George Music Festival. Born in 1986, Ronaldo started his musical studies with his mother, having given his first public performance at the age of four. In 1998 he was admitted at the Magda Tagliaferro School, in São Paulo, as a student of Zilda Candida dos Santos and Armando Fava Filho. After winning the Nelson Freire and the Magda Tagliaferro National Piano Competitions, Ronaldo moved to the United States where he studied with Flavio Varani at Oakland University, Benjamin Pasternack

at the Peabody Conservatory, and Boris Berman at the Yale School of Music. In the meantime, he earned various prizes, such as James Mottram, Bösendorfer, San Marino, Lyon and, most recently, the prestigious International Concours Géza Anda, in Zurich. Ronaldo has recently concluded his doctoral thesis on the wartime works of Karol Szymanowski at Yale University. Ronaldo is an Odradek artist and his solo CD will be released in 2018 on Odradek Records.

Meet the Host

Dave Schwan hosts a number of programs for WFMT including live broadcasts from Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts and the Grant Park Music Festival. Dave is also the Sunday morning news anchor at WGN radio, and can be heard around town singing in different choruses and giving pre-concert lectures. He plays classical and jazz trombone. A native of Highland, Indiana, Dave grew up listening to WFMT and attending concerts around the Chicago area.